


Everything Has a Price

by ZigguratRolsovitch



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Before TFA, F/M, Jakku, Slight spoilers from Before The Awakening and Aftermath, Why does everyone want to go back to Jakku? Because it's a fun plot point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 02:12:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15939641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZigguratRolsovitch/pseuds/ZigguratRolsovitch
Summary: Rey gets an offer she can't refuse.Excerpt:"Everything has a price." He responded and then appeared to tilt his head to the side."Not me." She made to go to the left, but he stopped her again."A million credits." That mechanical voice rumbled out and Rey froze."Nobody has a million credits to just throw away." It was a joke. It had to be. He was just playing around with her now."You would be surprised." His voice came again and if she didn't know any better she almost thought that she caught a hint of humor to his tone. Or did he really think this sort of thing was funny? Typical First Order monsters."I spend a night with you and you give me a million credits? Just like that? No questions asked?"





	Everything Has a Price

The shade of the canopy over Plutt's concession stall was the only thing that kept the unyielding heat off of Rey's back while she worked to scrub her most recent round of hard earned scrap. The cycle seemed so endless. Scrounge for the scrap she could... go to bed exhausted... wake up early... scrounge for more scrap. It was so tiring. She was exhausted... and it was a nightmare to think that this would be how she would spend the rest of her life. An endless loop of working hard for it all to amount to nothing.

Letting out a breath she blew some loose hair from her face and then moved to take her scrap to Plutt's stand. As she made her way over to the long line she noted a massive imperial shuttle go over top of them though the holes in the canopy. She wondered what that ship could be doing on a planet like Jakku. There was nothing here. Not for some haughty imperial officer.

The line ahead of her moved and Rey found it was her turn to hand over what scrap she had gathered over the past week. She placed it up on the counter and watched as Plutt's fat, grubby fingers picked up and turned each piece with a look on his face that clearly expressed that he was above her and her petty goods. The same goods she worked so hard for... nearly died for.

"Mmmmmm... I'll give you... one full portion." Plutt stated and placed the portion down on the counter and tossed each piece into the back.

Rey felt her stomach churn with that familiar queasy feeling that she got when she knew that she was about to get completely screwed over, but that there was nothing she could do about it. That she had to accept this deal or go hungry.

So she begrudgingly reached up to grab the portion off the counter and turned to walk away... let the next person in line to get screwed over have their turn.

It seemed that she would go hungry again. She dreaded the experience, but there was nothing that she could do about it. Maybe if she got lucky she could catch a small animal... she'd gotten lucky enough a few times. Rare, but... not impossible. Lizards made good meals... small ones, but good ones... when one starved long enough.

Hunger pains were quite unlike anything else. Sometimes so bad that she had to curl up in her hammock in the fetal position and try to will them away so that she could go about her day... work to get the food she so badly needed.

The weakness that came with starvation was just as bad. She would get so tired so quickly... but she knew that she was going to have to work very had so that she didn't reach that point again. She couldn't afford the worst of the starvation. Not again. She feared... that the next time she wasn't going to survive... and this single portion would not help much in that endeavor.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a group of stormtroopers making their way to Plutt's stand. It distracted her enough that she slammed into something solid, dropped her precious single portion and had to quickly get down and pick it up.

Only then did she notice the massive black boot before her and her gaze traveled up and up and she found a rather intimidating looking mountain before her. Her first thought happened to be... who wore black in the desert? Idiot.

But it was best to stay out of his way. These First Order types weren't to be trifled with.

"How much for a night with you?" A deep, altered voice came from that mask and Rey scowled, standing up quickly so that he wouldn't have her caught while she was down.

"Excuse me?" Her voice rose a bit in pitch. What sort of monster...?

"You heard me." He didn't make a point to repeat himself.

"You've got the wrong idea. The girls you're looking for are over there." Rey made sure to point him in the right direction to where he could fulfill whatever disgusting fantasy he had and tried to step around him, but he stepped to the right and stopped her.

"How much?"

"I told you... I'm not for sale." She had never stopped so low as to sell her body to some disgusting pig just for a little food and she wasn't about to do it now.

"Everything has a price." He responded and then appeared to tilt his head to the side.

"Not me." She made to go to the left, but he stopped her again.

"A million credits." That mechanical voice rumbled out and Rey froze.

"Nobody has a million credits to just throw away." It was a joke. It had to be. He was just playing around with her now.

"You would be surprised." His voice came again and if she didn't know any better she almost thought that she caught a hint of humor to his tone. Or did he really think this sort of thing was funny? Typical First Order monsters.

"I spend a night with you and you give me a million credits? Just like that? No questions asked?"

"There will be questions. Plenty of them, but if you put up with them. Yes. A million. Just like that."

Her lips parted as if she was about to speak and then she closed her mouth again and shook her head. No. No this was insane. This man was here asking her to... to sell herself to him for a night for a million credits. It was... deplorable... and yet... a million credits. If she had a million credits... she was never going to go hungry again. She might be able to live her entire life without ever going hungry. Just... for one night. He wasn't asking for more. Just one.

Glancing down at the single packet in her hand she thought about taking this and just leaving, but if she did then she was going to have to starve again for who knew how long. On the other hand she could accept the deal from this... whatever he was under there... and she could never go hungry again.

In all her life she had never considered it. Promised herself she'd never become one of those girls that sold her body... practically her soul to become a man's toy... and here she was seriously considering it.

Plutt would be so greedy... if he saw a million credits he'd be bowing at her feet... giving her everything that she wanted. Food. Water. Things to improve her home and make it safer. A little more livable. Insulate it more for those freezing cold nights.

Rey lifted her gaze up to that mask, licked her lips and then nodded.

"Yes?"

"Yes."

He turned and pointed towards the shuttle. "That ship... meet me there after dark."

After dark? So he intended to hide this indiscretion. The beast wasn't going to gloat about it to his fellow officers?

"Okay." Her tone was a little defeated as she agreed and watched the massive beast turn and head over to the group of stormtroopers while she looked for a place to linger while she waited for night fall.

* * *

 

She approached his ship after dark as he had requested and he was waiting there at the ramp, but when he saw her he didn't make a point to say anything to her. He simply gestured with his hand for her to head up the ramp and she obeyed the silent command.

While she was trying to dissociate from the fact that she was actually about to do this sort of a thing she did note that she didn't have much of a choice. She was so, so tired of struggling so hard. This was her chance to live easy.

His ship was silent. No guards on any of the doors. They were simply able to make their way down a hall and then he opened up the door to a bedroom. It was... very dark. Hues of grey and black. For just a moment she hesitated, afraid of what disgusting fantasies that he might subject her to, but recalling that this was something that she had to do. Do or die never meant nearly as much as it did now. So she stepped inside and when she did he stepped in behind her and the door closed with a resounding bang.

It felt like her fate was sealed. No backing out now. She doubted he would let her.

The lights came on and made it a bit brighter, but not much. She watched the massive beast slowly move across the room to sit down on the edge of his bed. His head tilted to the side again as he studied her. He appeared to be waiting then at that point. Waiting on her she supposed.

She made her way over to him and thought for a moment about what she should do. Should she remove that mask of his to start? But... she didn't even know what was under there... she was afraid to know. What if he was some... disgusting, slimy... alien creature. Every inch of his skin was covered so she had no way of knowing what he was. Maybe it was better to leave it on?

Then again he wasn't even going to be able to breath or see in that thing right? No, no. What was she going to do?

Okay. She could do this. She could do this.

Taking a deep breath she stepped closer and then trying to be as bold as she could climbed into his lap, knees on either side of his hips. He tensed up and she wondered if she'd done something wrong. That wasn't good... she hadn't come this far to fail. Or maybe it was better if he kicked her out right now? She didn't know.

Lifting her hands she found the sides of the mask, searched around for how to get it off and found the little releases on the side so she pressed into them, heard a faint hiss and then very, very slowly started to lift if off of him.

The entire time she was dreading it. She was dreading finding some... strange, slobbering alien under here. As if removing it slowly would change anything. So she lifted the mask the rest of the way, noted how heavy it was as it came off and then... glanced from the mask down to whatever face was hiding under there.

Not... a slimy, grotesque alien. He was very, very human. Not some dried up old man either... he looked young. It surprised her to see what was really under there. Of all the things that she imagined this wasn't one of them.

"You're human." She breathed, gaze dropping down over his face and really taking it in. He looked... good. He was very nice to look at.

"Yes." He answered in turn.

Even his real voice came as a shock to her. Smooth. Deep. Soft even in it's own way. This was not what she had expected to happen here. She let the heavy mask drop onto the bed behind him and from that point she wasn't sure what do do.

Oddly enough she felt her gaze drawn to his full mouth. She almost... wanted to kiss him. See if it would feel nearly as good as it looked... and then she wanted to slap herself for having even thought something like that. What was wrong with her?

"I'm not... sure how to get the rest of this off." She tugged at his cloak and watched his head tilt to the side again.

"Off?" His tone sounded exceptionally amused at the moment and she furrowed her brow because she didn't know what he thought was so funny. "What did you think I invited you here to do?"

"To... sleep with me?"

"Ah. I see. But if I had wanted that... I would have hired one of those girls who's expertise it is... wouldn't I? Aside from that... those things are forbidden to me. They go against my training." His mouth quirked up on one side as he spoke. "I just want to talk."

"You..." Rey tried to process the entire situation here and felt her face warming with color because there was no possible way she misunderstood, right? When he had asked he made it sound so... "You want to give me a million credits to talk to me?"

"I would have given you less, but you seemed like you weren't going to budge without a much higher price. It isn't as if I can't afford it."

For a moment Rey had half a mind to slap him, but instead she quickly scrambled off his lap and took several steps back from him.

"This is a joke. At my expense." Rey realized that this had to be nothing more than a sick, First Order joke. He might be easy on the eyes, but he was a monster underneath.

"No." He suddenly sat up straighter, grabbed a heavy backpack next to the bed and tossed it over to her. "The credits are all there. Count them. See for yourself."

Rey stood silent and stared at him and then glance down, opened up the back and it was indeed filled to the brim with the credits. She still couldn't quite comprehend what it was he wanted from her. A talk?

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I told you from the beginning there would be questions..." He paused then, looked her over and realized he hadn't gotten a name. "Miss?"

"Rey." She was hesitant about giving her name out to someone from the First Order, but then what would he have to do with someone from Jakku?

"Rey." He tested the name carefully. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm giving you credits to talk. But, Rey you must understand where I come from. A high ranking officer in The First Order... a dog eat dog world... I have no friends... nobody that I can talk to... nobody that I can trust. I feel like... if I don't... talk to someone that doesn't want to stab me in the back... that I'm going to... lose my mind."

So that was it. He couldn't talk with his peers. She supposed in a way it made sense. She knew just how lonely she got here on Jakku. How cold the nights were. How lonely they got... yes, she could understand that. The scavengers out here weren't trustworthy either.

"I know how that feels." Rey sat down beside him slowly, still cautious of him. "I tried to make friends once, but they stole the ship that I repaired and left with it. If I had been able to sell it to Unkar... I'd have been set for life."

"They betrayed you." He nodded in understanding. "I know what betrayal is like. My parents gave me away to an uncle... who tried to kill me while I slept..."

Rey quickly glanced at him. It shouldn't be surprising coming from someone in The First Order she supposed. Those people were... worse than monsters.

"I told you my name... you never told me yours." But she felt like she asked a loaded question because his expression changed and he glanced off to the side a moment. He looked so conflicted by something so simple as a name.

"Re-... Ben. It's Ben." He finally came out with it after a moment of stuttering around the word.

"You were going to give me a different name." She did notice that there was something strange about that.

"Yes. The Supreme Leader has forbidden the use of my name."

"I certainly won't tell him."

"No. I don't expect you would." He smiled just slightly, but he did wonder what someone like Rey was doing here on Jakku and so felt the need to ask. "Why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for my family." She responded briskly. "They'll be back. Some day."

"Rey..."

"They will." Judging from that comment it was clear that parents were off limit subjects for the two of them and that they should not speak much on those matters. "Why did you pick me? Of all the girls?"

"You're the prettiest." Again he offered another quirky smile. "And... I sense... something in you."

"You sense something?" Rey found herself confused and then she dropped her gaze down and noted the saber at his belt. She saw it earlier, but it hadn't clicked until now. "Are you... a Jedi?"

"No."

"A Sith?"

"No."

"If you're not a Jedi or a Sith what are you?"

"Mmmmm." He took a moment and tried to think about how to explain that, but he found that he was unable to come up with a proper response. "I'll let you know when I figure that out."

"Figuring it out as you go." That was another thing that she understood. Whatever Rey had expected under that mask... this certainly wasn't it. No monster. Just a very lonely, very conflicted young man.

"I never really understood what people meant when they said that it was lonely at the top... now I do. I assumed it was... a joke... it isn't."

"I may not know what it's like to be at the top, but I know what it's like to be lonely."

"I'm sorry that someone like you does." He found it regrettable that the poor girl knew something like loneliness, but she couldn't trust anyone either. The scavengers seemed just as duplicitous as First Order officers. "Did you know... that Jakku was once covered with green vegetation and oceans?"

"No." Rey looked over at him and realized he really did want to just have someone to talk to... and it didn't matter what it was about. "How do you know that?"

"The previous Emperor... he was interested in Jakku. It's in the archives."

"What is The First Order doing on Jakku?"

"Ahh... well... that should be classified..." But of course Ben hesitated and then decided that it couldn't hurt to tell Rey. As long as it kept her around. Kept her talking to him. "There were some Sith relics and artifacts that The Supreme Leader wants..."

"You said you weren't a Sith."

"I'm not."

"But your Supreme Leader is?" Rey really was curious, despite the little voice that reminded her that curiosity killed the loth-cat.

"Sort of... he just... bends the rules a bit."

"I always thought that the old stories said Sith were the bad guys."

"No! No... The Supreme Leader is... he's wise... he's going to fix things. End the conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

Rey noted that he sounded like he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince her. So he didn't really like this Supreme Leader. He was just trying to like him... for the sake of whatever it was he was attempting to do with his life.

"If you say so." Rey didn't believe it, but she didn't really want to upset him or get into a fight with him. He certainly hadn't paid her to argue.

"It's getting late." He muttered as he checked the time and then he stood and removed his cowl, tossed it aside and then moved across the room to type something into a pad on the wall. "Would you like to have dinner with me? We can continue to speak over dinner."

"You're going to pay me and give me dinner?" Rey couldn't help sounding astonished and he looked a bit confused, but he nodded.

"I take it that's not a custom here." A few moments after he finished typing something in there was a beeping outside the door and he opened it to allow a droid in with a large trey of food. Perhaps the largest amount of food that she had ever seen in her entire life.

If one asked her what she thought she would be doing with her evening she never would have thought to tell them that she would be having dinner with a First Order officer.

Rey watched him take the trey from the droid and place it onto a small table in his room before he opened it up and placed two plates on either side. The food looked like it was perhaps the most amazing thing that she had ever seen in her life.

Watching him she noticed that he pulled a chair out and then looked to her expectantly, but Rey wasn't all too sure what to do in that moment and she watched the way his mouth twisted up.

"You're... meant to sit... I was trying to be polite." He explained.

"Oh." She had never even heard of such things, but she tried to do things his way and sat down, felt him shift the chair and adjust it for her. It was strange. She never experienced anything like it.

Once that was done he moved to the opposite side of her, sat down and then removed his gloves to reveal his massive paws. Rey paused a moment and wondered how a man could be as big as he was. She knew he was tall, but with the gloves gone it just made it a little more apparent.

The food on the other hand, no pun intended, was perhaps the best thing that she had ever eaten in her entire life. She found herself very envious of the meals First Order officers were able to enjoy.

"And you get to have this every night?"

"Mmhm." He nodded and leaned his face against his hand as he watched her with an amused smile.

"You're lucky." Rey dreaded that she would have to go back to portions after a meal like this, but she made sure to savor it all so that she was never going to forget it.

The rest of their night went by enjoyably just like that and she found that she actually really did enjoy spending time with another person. Enjoyed the conversation that he had to offer her. She found as it got later that she was also dreading going back to being completely alone.

So once their meals were finished up -and he had ordered desert for her despite not being the sort to have a sweet tooth himself- it was time for her to leave. It was getting late and it would be dangerous to go back any later.

Standing up he escorted her out, bag of credits in hand. Back into the desert, but he hesitated before letting her leave just yet. "I'm going to be stationed here at the Observatory... would... you like to... see me again? Hopefully for less credits... if it's a million every time you'll start to really hurt my balance."

"You want to see me again?"

"Very much so."

Rey took a moment to consider it. Would it be wrong to befriend a First Order officer if he was different from the rest? If she enjoyed spending time with him?

"Okay." She agreed and watched him smile slightly, but he still lingered even then and she wasn't sure why she hadn't walked away yet either. What else did he want from her?

"Rey... can I kiss you?"

His question caught her off guard and she wasn't sure what to do or what to think about what he was saying. She had thought about it earlier. She found that even if she tried to answer that she couldn't... so she nodded and watched as he leaned down a bit... with a moment of hesitation before he pressed his mouth over hers.

It was the sort of kiss from a fairy tale that the prince gave the princess. The things that she had only ever read about... or dreamed about.

"I thought you said these sort of things are forbidden?" Her voice was low and quiet as she spoke.

"I expect you won't tell on me." He gave her another small smile. "Goodnight, Rey... please be careful on your way home."

"Goodnight, Ben." Rey slowly started to back away from him, gaze flicking down to that smile and she felt a strange ache in her own face... realized that she was smiling herself as she headed home.

This feeling was something new. She was happy... she had a secure future... and most of all... she liked Ben. She liked him... and he wanted to see her again.

Rey didn't look forward to a lot of things. Never had much to look forward to with the life that she lived, but this time she was looking forward to something and she couldn't wait to see him again.

  
  
  
~Fin~

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I thought an AU about Ben being stationed on Jakku would be interesting... along with a classic misunderstanding.


End file.
